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A team of researchers from Duke University have grown human skeletal muscles in the laboratory -- muscles that actually function and react to stimuli like their real counterparts. In order to do so, the scientists took cells that have already progressed beyond stem cells, placed them on a scaffolding with nourishment and waited for them to align into muscle fibers. That sounds easy written down, but the truth is they still had a tough time making it happen. According to one of the researchers, Lauren Madden, it took them "a year of adjusting variables like cell and gel density and optimizing the culture matrix and media" despite their experience growing animal muscles.

Apple briefly hinted last week that hospitals would soon try out HealthKit's patient tracking technology, and we now know how those experiments are going to work. According to Reuters, both Duke University and Stanford University are weeks away from launching trial programs that will let doctors monitor vital stats with patients' permission. In the Stanford test, young Type 1 diabetes sufferers will carry both an iPod touch and a smart glucose meter to keep tabs on their blood sugar levels. There are fewer details surrounding Duke's pilot, but it will track the blood pressure and weight of those with cancer or heart disease.

We've seen some overly elaborateinvisibility cloaks in our day, but Duke engineers have shown that lo-fi may be best for audio. After much refinement, they've developed a shield that can hide objects from sound waves thanks to a highly engineered pyramid shape and carefully placed holes. The stacked layers retard sound coming from any angle, so that it appears to have bounced off a flat wall when picked up by a detector (see the video after the break). Though it's still early days, such materials could one day protect ships from sonar or improve concert hall acoustics, for instance. It's also got the pyramid power thing going on -- so maybe it could also keep your razor sharp.

Some would say the internet already lets us share every minutedetail of our thoughts, much to our followers' dismay. Duke University isn't deterred by our behavior -- if anything, it just took oversharing literally by connecting two rats' minds in an experiment, first in a lab and ultimately online. Electrodes attached to the brain of a host "encoder" rat in Brazil processed the motor-oriented mental activity for a desired behavior, such as pressing a lever on cue, and converted it into a signal that was then received by a "decoder" rat as far away as Duke's US campus. The majority of the time, the decoder rat performed the same action as the encoder. Researchers also found that rewarding the encoder alongside the decoder created a virtuous loop, as treating the first rat for a job well done focused its attention and improved the signal strength.

We're not sure that Vulcans would endorse this kind of mind meld, though: apart from immediately depriving the decoder rat of self-control, prolonged testing led to the same rodent developing additional sympathetic reactions to the encoder. There's also concerns that the test was too binary and didn't reflect the complexity of the whole brain. All the same, Duke's study is proof enough that we can export brainwaves in a meaningful way.

Metamaterials are proving to be quite useful for toying with the electromagnetic spectrum, whether for technology previously thought to be the stuff of science fiction, or for boring real-world applications. Engineers at Duke University have come up something that falls more into the latter category: a metamaterial imaging sensor that doesn't require a lens to generate a picture. The sensor is a flexible copper-plated sheet patterned with small squares that capture various light frequencies all at once, functioning like one big aperture. Add a few circuits with a pinch of software and the sensor-only camera can produce up to ten images per second, but the catch is Duke's only works at microwave frequencies. Microwave imaging is used plenty, however, and due to its flexibility and lack of moving parts, the sensor could be used to build better integrated, cheaper airport scanners and vehicle collision avoidance technology -- making you safer however you choose to travel. Unless you take the train. Then you're on your own.

Most attempts at cloaking, no matter the slice of spectrum, usually leave clues as to what's there -- even microwave cloaks can spoil the surprise through reflections. At Duke University, researchers have licked some of those past problems with the first instance of a flawless microwave cloaking scheme. By crafting a special diamond-shaped cloak where the light properties stay consistent at the corners, the school's Nathan Landy and David Smith have successfully shielded a 3-inch wide cylinder from microwave detection without a hint that something was amiss. The gotcha, as hinted by the shape, is a two-dimensional nature that gives away the secret at less than ideal angles. Duke suggests that it still has the groundwork for something that could be vital for communications or radar -- we can imagine a stealth aircraft or ship in the far-flung future that could actively mask itself from radar signals. It's not quite the optical illusion we're looking for, but a refined version of the Duke project might be enough for a rare practical use of cloaking when fantasies are much more common.

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cloakcloakingDukedukeuniversitymicrowaveminipostradarsciencestealthMon, 12 Nov 2012 19:09:00 -050021|20377274http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/13/alt-week-10-13-12-is-the-universe-a-simulation-cloning-dinos/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget&ncid=rss_semi
http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/13/alt-week-10-13-12-is-the-universe-a-simulation-cloning-dinos/http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/13/alt-week-10-13-12-is-the-universe-a-simulation-cloning-dinos/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget#commentsAlt-week peels back the covers on some of the more curious sci-tech stories from the last seven days.

Are you reading this? Seriously, are you? Sure, we know you think you are, but what if you're just a sub-feature of a complex computer program. A sprite, nothing more than the creation of software. The problem with this question is, how would you ever know? You wouldn't, right? Well, not so fast there. Turns out, maybe there is a way to unravel the matrix (if there is one). It'll come as no surprise, that this is one of the topics in this week's collection of alternative stories. Think that's all we got? Not even close. We'll explore the truth behind cloning dinosaurs, as well a rare performance by singing mice -- all before dinner. Or is it really dinner? This is alt-week.

Those goggles you see above aren't for stylish looks while playing dodgeball -- they're the keys to a potentially important discovery about short-term memory. Duke University's Institute for Brain Sciences found that subjects playing catch with goggles simulating strobe lights were noticeably better at memorizing information during tests, even a full day after playtime was over. It's not hard to see why: with a limited amount of time to see that incoming ball, participants had to more vividly remember brief scenes to stay on top of the game. We don't yet know if there's any kind of long-term boost, so don't get your hopes up that strobe lights are the shortcuts to permanent photographic memory. Still, the findings suggest that frequent nightclubbers might be on to something... or, at least, have a better idea of where they left their keys the morning after.

Nanowires, although they're building steam, still have to overcome the not-so-small problem of cost -- they often have to use indium tin oxide that's not just expensive, but fragile. Duke University has developed copper-nanowire films that could remedy this in style. The choice of material is both a hundred times less expensive to make than indium and is much more durable. It's flexible, too: if layered on as a coating, the nanowires would make for considerably more viable wearable electronics that won't snap under heavy stress. The catch, as you might suspect, stems from the copper itself, which doesn't conduct as much electricity as indium. The nickel will keep your copper electronics from oxidizing faster than the Statue of Liberty, however. Any practical use could be years away, but further successes from Duke could quickly see printable electronics hit the mainstream power and power our dreams of flexible displays.

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copperduke universityDukeUniversityflexible displayFlexibleDisplayindium tin oxideIndiumTinOxidenano technologynano wirenano wiresNanoTechnologyNanoWireNanoWiresprintableprintable circuitsprintable electronicsPrintableCircuitsPrintableElectronicssciencewearablesThu, 31 May 2012 04:24:00 -040021|20247201http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/09/ditching-drm-could-reduce-piracy-prices-inconvenience/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget&ncid=rss_semi
http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/09/ditching-drm-could-reduce-piracy-prices-inconvenience/http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/09/ditching-drm-could-reduce-piracy-prices-inconvenience/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget#commentsThis may run counter to what your common sense tells you but, a new paper out of Duke and Rice University says that ditchingDRM could actually reducepiracy. The study, which relied on analytical modeling, showed that while copy protection made illegally sharing content more difficult it had a significantly negative impact on legal users. In fact, the researchers say, "only the legal users pay the price and suffer from the restrictions [of DRM]." Many consumers simply choose to pirate music and movies because doing simple things, like backing up a media collection, is difficult with DRMed content. Even the mosteffectiveDRM is eventuallybroken, and fails to deter those already determined to steal. Meanwhile, abandoning these restrictions could increase competition and drive down prices (as well as remove a serious inconvenience), encouraging more people to legitimately purchase content. You can check out the November-December issue of Marketing Science for more details.

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DRMDRM freeDrmFreedukeduke universityDukeUniversitypiracyresearchricerice universityRiceUniversitystudySun, 09 Oct 2011 20:22:00 -040021|20077376http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/06/monkeys-control-virtual-arm-with-their-brains-may-herald-breakt/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget&ncid=rss_semi
http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/06/monkeys-control-virtual-arm-with-their-brains-may-herald-breakt/http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/06/monkeys-control-virtual-arm-with-their-brains-may-herald-breakt/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget#commentsMonkey mind-controlled arm: It sounds like the name of an awesomely terrible sci-fi film or a fledgling grindcore group, but it's a very real phenomenon, and one that could pay significant dividends for paraplegics everywhere. Neurobiology professor Miguel Nicolelis and his team of researchers at Duke University recently devised a method by which monkeys (and, perhaps one day, humans) can control a virtual arm using only their brains. It's a concept similar to what DARPA has been pursuing with its mind-controlled "Luke" arm, with one important difference: Nicolelis' system not only allows users to remotely execute motor functions, but provides them with near-instantaneous sensory feedback, as well. Most similar techniques use electrode implants to stimulate brain activity, but this can create confusion when a patient's brain sends and receives signals to and from a prosthetic arm. Nicolelis circumvented this problem with a new interface that can read and transmit brain signals to an artificial limb, before switching to a receptive mode in just milliseconds.

After designing the technology, Nicolelis and his colleagues tested it on two, electrode-equipped rhesus monkeys. One set of electrodes was placed in the motor cortex of each animal, with the other implanted within their brains' sensory regions. They then trained the monkeys to look at a three identical objects on a computer screen and to "touch" each object with a virtual arm, controlled by signals sent from the brain electrodes. Only one of the three objects had a so-called "virtual texture," which, if selected with the on-screen arm, would send a sensory signal back to the monkey's brain (while triggering a tasty squirt of fruit juice for the lucky contestant). The two rhesus species ended up passing the test with flying colors, resulting in a "proof of principle" that Nicolelis' system can send tactile signals to the brain in almost real-time. The scientists have already developed a way for monkeys to control the arm wirelessly, and are now embedding their technology within a full-body, mind-controlled exoskeleton for paralyzed patients, as well. Of course, the technology still needs to be tested on actual humans, though Nicolelis seems confident that he and his team have already cleared the most difficult hurdle: "Since we cannot talk to the monkeys, I assume with human patients, it's going to be much easier."

Everyone's jumping on the invisibilitycloakingbandwagon these days, but no one's quite managed to fully deliver on the promise. The same goes for two Duke University researchers who believe their mesh casing could grant the gift of concealment to underwater craft -- submarines, anyone? According to the proposed model, a specially designed shell punctuated by complex patterns of permeability and millimeter-sized pumps would eliminate the drag and turbulent wake caused by an object as it moves through the water. Utilizing the penetrable gaps in the case, water would at first accelerate, and then decelerate to its original speed before exiting -- rendering the fluid around the object virtually undisturbed. Now for the bad news: the design doesn't quite work for large-scale, real-world implementations -- hello again, submarines -- since the tech can only cloak small structures, like "a vehicle one centimetre across... [moving] at speeds of less than one centimetre per second." It's a massive bummer, we know, but we're getting there folks -- you just won't see it when it actually happens.

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dukeduke universityDukeUniversityfluid cloakFluidCloakinvisibility cloakInvisibilityCloakPhysicistsphysicssubmarinesubmarinesunderwaterwaterFri, 29 Jul 2011 12:34:00 -040021|20004435http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/04/sleepwell-forces-wifi-to-wait-its-turn-keeps-gadgets-well-reste/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget&ncid=rss_semi
http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/04/sleepwell-forces-wifi-to-wait-its-turn-keeps-gadgets-well-reste/http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/04/sleepwell-forces-wifi-to-wait-its-turn-keeps-gadgets-well-reste/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget#commentsEver feel like your WiFi devices' battery-lives are better off when not surrounded by peers and passersby? According to Duke University grad student Justin Manweiler and assistant professor Romit Roy Choudhury, this phenomenon is due to gadgets constantly fighting to retrieve the same data. Their Systems Networking Research Group has created a program dubbed SleepWell to alleviate the congestion; it puts WiFi to rest until the path is clear for accessing the specific data it needs, and provides improved power management all the while. The tech was shown off at MobiSys 2011 this past week and reportedly works well "across a number of device types and situations." Notably, Microsoft and Nokia (amongst others like Verizon) are backing up the project, which makes us cautiously optimisticthat it could be headed for WP7 (or Windows 8, for that matter) in due time. There's no info on whether SleepWell will ever be distributed commercially, but may we suggest an LTE version to help out big V's poor ol' T-Bolt?

Update: We'd like to clarify that this software currently works from the accesss point side rather than the individual devices. You'll a find an additional PDF about the project in the source links below.

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batterybattery drainbattery lifeBatteryDrainBatteryLifecellphonesduke universityDukeUniversityJustin ManweilerJustinManweilerlaptopsmicrosoftmobisysmobisys 2011Mobisys2011nappingnokiapower managementPowerManagementRomit Roy ChoudhuryRomitRoyChoudhurySleep WellSleepWellverizonwifiwifi nappingWifiNappingMon, 04 Jul 2011 08:52:00 -040021|19982485http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/25/duke-university-physicists-test-first-acoustic-invisibility-cloa/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget&ncid=rss_semi
http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/25/duke-university-physicists-test-first-acoustic-invisibility-cloa/http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/25/duke-university-physicists-test-first-acoustic-invisibility-cloa/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget#commentsFirmly departing from the Stuff Of Dreams category, Duke University physicists have successfully tested an acoustic cloaking device that fools sound waves while looking nowhere near as scifi as you'd think. Layering nothing more than a bunch of hole-punched plastic sheets -- known as meta-materials, for those curious -- atop a ten centimeter long block of wood, highly-directed sound in the 1 - 4kHz range bounced right off the concealed object none the wiser. The cloaking tech owes some of its origin to the math behind transformation optics -- andmaybe to the Duke team, too. Besides allowing defense department bunkers to erupt into silent applause, the research should prove useful in the construction of future concert halls. DIY hobbyists, let us know what you can rig up with some trash bags.

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acoustic cloakingacoustic cloaking deviceAcousticCloakingAcousticCloakingDeviceacousticsdukeduke universityDukeUniversityinvisibility cloakInvisibilityCloakPhysicistsphysicssound cloakSoundCloakSat, 25 Jun 2011 16:19:00 -040021|19976122http://www.tuaw.com/2010/07/21/duke-university-to-use-ipads-for-field-research/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=TUAW.com&ncid=rss_semi
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/07/21/duke-university-to-use-ipads-for-field-research/http://www.tuaw.com/2010/07/21/duke-university-to-use-ipads-for-field-research/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=TUAW.com#comments
This fall, the Duke University Global Health Institute in Durham, NC will embark on a pilot project using the iPad as a field research tool. Masters students enrolled in the Research Methods in Global Health Sciences II class will be broken up into groups of three, with each group being given a 3G-enabled iPad.

The course introduces students to a wide range of methodological techniques, including quantitative surveys research, interventions and evaluations along with qualitative techniques of ethnography, survey design and semi-structured interviews. Funding and assistance with the course will come from the Duke Center for Instructional Technology (CIT).

Educational tech consultant Mark Sperber, who will train students on the iPad and decide upon the selection of software, notes that the iPad will allow students to collect and analyze data while in the field, where it's most meaningful. The do-it-nowability of the iPad was written about by mobile research blogger Tim Macer.

Traditionally, field-collected research could not be analyzed until the researcher got to a computer off-site, but the use of iPads will allow data to be examined immediately. Having done my share of quantitative field research I feel that bringing immediacy to the field opens up possibilities that were never before imaginable. The primary goal, according to sociologist Jen'nan Ghazal Read who will be teaching the course, is to equip students with tools allowing them to make the most of their time in the field and master the complex methods on which they will base their research.

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duke universityDukeUniversityipadresearchWed, 21 Jul 2010 12:00:00 -040016|19561559http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/14/self-assembling-dna-circuits-could-power-your-next-computer/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget&ncid=rss_semi
http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/14/self-assembling-dna-circuits-could-power-your-next-computer/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/14/self-assembling-dna-circuits-could-power-your-next-computer/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget#commentsSick of silicon? It is getting a bit played, so maybe it's time to shift some paradigms, and Duke University engineer Chris Dwyer thinks that pure proteins deoxyribonucleic acids are where it's at. He's demonstrated a way to force DNA to create shapes all by itself, a process he likens to a puzzle that puts itself together:

It's like taking pieces of a puzzle, throwing them in a box and as you shake the box, the pieces gradually find their neighbors to form the puzzle. What we did was to take billions of these puzzle pieces, throwing them together, to form billions of copies of the same puzzle.

Right now the waffle-shaped structures he can form aren't particularly useful, but going forward the hope is that nearly any type of circuitry could be made to build itself in massive quantities at next to no cost. It sounds exciting, promising, almost utopian -- exactly the kind of research that we usually never hear of again.

Update: We've had a few people commenting on the inaccuracy of the word "proteins" above, so it's been fixed and we hereby invite all you armchair molecular biologists to get back to curing cancer already.

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chris dwyerChrisDwyercircuitsdnaduke universityDukeUniversityproteinsresearchself-assemblingself-assembling circuitsSelf-assemblingCircuitsFri, 14 May 2010 09:41:00 -040021|19477354http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/06/study-finds-commercial-skipping-dvrs-dont-affect-purchases-ti/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget&ncid=rss_semi
http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/06/study-finds-commercial-skipping-dvrs-dont-affect-purchases-ti/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/06/study-finds-commercial-skipping-dvrs-dont-affect-purchases-ti/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget#comments
Two years back, consumer research told us the vast majority of DVR users skipped commercials; now, statisticians at Duke University say that's not the case. More importantly, even those who do hit that oh-so-tempting skip button aren't necessarily spending less on advertised products as a result. Pulling data from over 1,200 TiVo boxes over the course of three years, Professor Carl Mela and colleagues found that a staggering 95 percent of television was watched live instead of recorded, giving viewers no opportunity to skip, and even when there was an opportunity, users took it only 6.5 percent of the time.

Moreover, every attempt the researchers made to find a "TiVo effect" failed -- comparing those who had DVRs with those who didn't, they found no significant difference in the amount TV watchers spent on nine different goods (including cleaning and grooming products) advertised. This could be for a variety of reasons -- perhaps advertising doesn't work, period, or perhaps those without DVRs "skipped" commercials simply by walking out of the room -- but no matter the reason, it seems these days television advertisers don't have quite so much to fear.

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adsadvertisersadvertisingCarl MelaCarlMelacmcommercialcommercialsDukeduke universityDukeUniversityDVRresearchstatisticstatisticsstatsstudytelevisionTiVoTiVo effectTivoEffectTVThu, 06 May 2010 21:19:00 -040021|19468041http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/22/robot-surgeon-uses-frighteningly-large-needle-to-remove-shrapnel/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget&ncid=rss_semi
http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/22/robot-surgeon-uses-frighteningly-large-needle-to-remove-shrapnel/http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/22/robot-surgeon-uses-frighteningly-large-needle-to-remove-shrapnel/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget#commentsWe've reported on many a creepy looking and dangerous sounding robot in the past, but this one might just take the cake when it comes to dominating your nightmares for the next few nights. Developed by a team at Duke University, the bot uses ultrasound to identify areas of density in human flesh, then starts probing them with a rather painfully large looking needle. It could be used to locate and extract bits of shrapnel from stricken GIs on the battlefield, but that same tech might also be deployed to pierce women's breasts and men's prostates -- ostensibly to treat cancers of those respective regions, but we can think of more nefarious reasons. The bot doesn't have a name, but once it and its kind take over, neither will you.

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cancerdukeduke universityDukeUniversityneedlerobotic surgeonRoboticSurgeonshrapnelsurgeonMon, 22 Jun 2009 09:41:00 -040021|19074041http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/11/phonepoint-pen-application-is-a-hand-talkers-dream-come-true/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget&ncid=rss_semi
http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/11/phonepoint-pen-application-is-a-hand-talkers-dream-come-true/http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/11/phonepoint-pen-application-is-a-hand-talkers-dream-come-true/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget#comments
Know someone who talks with their hands so expressively that you have to step back or risk catching a wayward exclamation point in the face? The video after the break will make their day. Students at Duke University have come up with a way to use phone accelerometers to capture gestures with surprising precision, allowing them to pipe those motions through a character recognition algorithm and, hey presto, turn flapping hands into letters and numbers. The prototype app is called PhonePoint Pen, and while right now the process looks painfully slow, with large, precise motions required, with a few months or years of refinements you might just be able to jot down a quick text to a friend while running between terminals, all without putting down the double latte that just cost you $8 at the airport food court. The future, dear readers, it's closer than you think.

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accelerometerapplicationdukeduke universityDukeUniversityhandwriting recognitionHandwritingRecognitionmessagingmobilephone appphone applicationPhoneAppPhoneApplicationphonepoint penPhonepointPenThu, 11 Jun 2009 06:57:00 -040021|19064181http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/11/phonepoint-pen-application-is-a-hand-talkers-dream-come-true/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget&ncid=rss_semi
http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/11/phonepoint-pen-application-is-a-hand-talkers-dream-come-true/http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/11/phonepoint-pen-application-is-a-hand-talkers-dream-come-true/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget#comments
Know someone who talks with their hands so expressively that you have to step back or risk catching a wayward exclamation point in the face? The video after the break will make their day. Students at Duke University have come up with a way to use phone accelerometers to capture gestures with surprising precision, allowing them to pipe those motions through a character recognition algorithm and, hey presto, turn flapping hands into letters and numbers. The prototype app is called PhonePoint Pen, and while right now the process looks painfully slow, with large, precise motions required, with a few months or years of refinements you might just be able to jot down a quick text to a friend while running between terminals, all without putting down the double latte that just cost you $8 at the airport food court. The future, dear readers, it's closer than you think.

Engineers from Duke University and the University of New Mexico have just published the results of their most recent robotic escapades in the Journal on Control and Optimization. Silvia Ferrari and Rafael Fierro, leaders of the project, say that by applying the basic principles of the children's swimming game "Marco Polo" they have been able to advance robot's ability to both detect and intercept moving targets. By equipping robots with multiple types of camera sensors camera sensors which provide coverage of all the cells within the space the robot is able to more accurately predict where the moving target is at any given moment. The team sees all types of possible applications for robots equipped with the setup, but there's no real word on when we'll see any real life applications.

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duke universityDukeUniversitygamesjournal on control and optimizationJournalOnControlAndOptimizationmarco poloMarcoPolopool gamesPoolGamesRafael FierroRafaelFierrorobotrobotsSilvia FerrariSilviaFerrariswimminguniversity of new mexicoUniversityOfNewMexicoFri, 27 Mar 2009 06:12:00 -040021|1499188http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/11/robot-doctors-join-the-fight-against-breast-cancer/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget&ncid=rss_semi
http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/11/robot-doctors-join-the-fight-against-breast-cancer/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/11/robot-doctors-join-the-fight-against-breast-cancer/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget#comments
From Da Vinci robosurgeons to helpful nursebots , robots are becoming commonplace in hospitals the world over -- and now researchers at Duke University have developed a rudimentary tabletop robot that uses 3D ultrasound technology to detect a 'lesion' in a simulated sponge breast, pinpoint its exact location, and perform a biopsy. All the calculations are performed by the device itself, using what has been described as "a basic artificial intelligence program." The next step in the research will be an upgrade that will that the robotic arm from three-axis to six-axis capability, and a change from the old sponge-based simulated breast to one made from turkey breasts, which approximates the density of human breast tissue. According to Stephen Smith, director of the Duke University Ultrasound Transducer Group, if things stay on track, robots will be performing routine breast exams and biopsies in five to ten years. Video after the break.

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3d ultrasound3dUltrasoundbiopsybreast cancer preventionbreast cancer researchBreastCancerPreventionBreastCancerResearchcancer preventioncancer researchCancerPreventionCancerResearchdukeduke universityDukeUniversityresearchrobot doctorRobotDoctorstephen smithStephenSmithultrasoundWed, 11 Feb 2009 13:36:00 -050021|1457095http://www.engadget.com/2008/06/03/duke-micro-bots-learning-to-dance-probe-cellular-architectures/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget&ncid=rss_semi
http://www.engadget.com/2008/06/03/duke-micro-bots-learning-to-dance-probe-cellular-architectures/http://www.engadget.com/2008/06/03/duke-micro-bots-learning-to-dance-probe-cellular-architectures/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget#commentsWe won't even front: Duke's quasi-invisibility cloak is far cooler than this, but a team of microscopic robots sure have the potential to do more good than a glorified figment of someone's imagination. Bruce Donald, a Duke professor of computer science and biochemistry, has teamed up with a few other mad scientists in order to create ridiculously tiny robots that can dance on objects smaller than a pin's head. According to Mr. Donald, they are "almost 100 times smaller than any previous robotic designs of their kind and weigh even less." Sure, watching these critters do the tango is undoubtedly entertaining, but he's hoping to collaborate with the medical center in order to "probe the molecular and cellular architectures of very small things such as cells." We appreciate the dedication to mankind and all, but don't pretend like you don't goof off with these guys on your coffee breaks, Bruce.

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balletdukeduke universityDukeUniversitymemsmicro-robotsmicroelectromechanicalMicroscopicrobotscienceuniversityTue, 03 Jun 2008 23:55:00 -040021|1213280http://www.engadget.com/2008/02/19/duke-university-home-to-worlds-largest-802-11n-wireless-networ/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget&ncid=rss_semi
http://www.engadget.com/2008/02/19/duke-university-home-to-worlds-largest-802-11n-wireless-networ/http://www.engadget.com/2008/02/19/duke-university-home-to-worlds-largest-802-11n-wireless-networ/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget#comments
We know, most of you Blue Devil fans are still reeling from that recent loss to Wake Forest, but if it's any consolation, at least your campus is about to become home to the "world's largest" 802.11n wireless network. Last we heard, The Ohio State University held the crown for Earth's biggest WLAN with 1,700 access points lit, but according to Cisco, Duke's campus will soon house 2,500 Aironet 1250 Series APs. The installation will leave more than six million square feet of central North Carolina blanketed in WiFi, and will supposedly be the "largest planned 802.11n wireless network in the world by any organization to date." Watch out, Dukies -- we hear those folks in Chapel Hill have a thing for swiping unsecured signals.

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802.11naccciscodukeDuke UniversityDukeUniversityinternetuniversitywifiwirelesswlanworld recordWorldRecordTue, 19 Feb 2008 14:06:00 -050021|1118712http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/10/researchers-say-three-dimensional-sound-cloak-is-possible-in-th/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget&ncid=rss_semi
http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/10/researchers-say-three-dimensional-sound-cloak-is-possible-in-th/http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/10/researchers-say-three-dimensional-sound-cloak-is-possible-in-th/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget#commentsApparently not content with simply building an invisibility cloak, of sorts, those mad scientists at Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering now say that they've found that a three-dimensional "sound cloak" is also possible, in theory. According to Duke's Steven Cummer, the researchers have come up with a "recipe" for an acoustic material that would "essentially open up a hole in space and make something inside that hole disappear from sound waves." Needless to say, they haven't tested that possibility just yet, but they say it could one day be used to hide submarines from detection by sonar or even be used to improve the acoustics of a concert hall by making inconvenient structural beams effectively disappear. What's more, they say that the basic principles at play here could also suggest that cloaks could be created for other wave systems, like seismic waves, or even waves at the surface of the ocean, although the practical applications for those would seem to be a bit more limited.